Chapter 2521: Subhuman
The two men followed the direction indicated by the arrow on the wooden stick, and they soon arrived in front of a stone.
Luo Lao'er pushed the stick into the stone in a practiced manner. The stone then slowly disappeared to reveal a long corridor.
After they passed through, the stone reappeared and resealed the corridor.
After walking through the corridor, they quickly arrived in a spacious, dimly lit cave. There were only a few scattered lamps illuminating the area.
A woman approached them and gestured invitingly before leading Lu Yin and Luo Lao'er to a more secluded area that was surrounded by walls on three sides. It was very similar to an auction house’s private booth. The cavern was filled with hundreds of these "rooms."
Lu Yin studied his surroundings as more people arrived.
"These secret auctions are always shrouded in mystery. Where the goods for sale come from or who the final winner is will always remain a secret to everyone. Everything that appears here is usually of dubious origin, but also quite valuable," Luo Lao'er whispered.
Lu Yin was left puzzled. "Aren't they concerned that we won’t be able to afford anything?"
"These secret auctions are directed towards everyone within a certain area. The number of attendees varies greatly, but there's never any need to verify funds in order to attend. Everything is determined by luck. These secret auctions won't affect anyone's reputation, so even if an item doesn’t sell, it doesn’t matter. No one ever knows who sets these auctions up, so they’re just treated as a gathering of strangers," Luo Lao'er explained.
Not far from Lu Yin, there were several people having a conversation in another room. "Sister Hong, how many times have you attended these secret auctions?"
"At least ten times."
"So many? You must have bought a lot of good items."
"Not really. Before your class arrived, there weren't very many people here in the Sixverse Academy. Only recently has the number of people attending the auctions increased."
"That makes sense."
"Quiet now, it's starting."
Before long, someone stepped forward and offered a bow to the surrounding rooms. Then, the man spoke in a hoarse voice. "Thank you all for attending. We have a total of seven items up for auction this time, and the auction will now officially begin. The first item for sale is a blue energy converter."
Inside his room, Lu Yin arched a brow. A blue energy converter meant a power level of nearly a million, which was at about the level of a six-tribulation Envoy. In the Fifth Mainland, such strength indicated a true expert. After all, just how many Envoys did the Fifth Mainland have?
And yet, such power was simply being sold off in this auction. This was the ability of the Transcendent Universe, where power levels could be quantified and measured accurately. Who knew just how many energy converters the universe actually had?
A blue energy converter was highly attractive to everyone at the auction. After all, it could let anyone obtain the strength of an expert.
The energy converter was also just the first item up for auction, which sparked the crowd's interest and anticipation for the following items for sale.
"You're lucky, Seventh Bro! This isn’t some minor underground auction. Whoever’s behind this really has to have some skill," Luo Lao'er commented.
The blue energy converter was quickly sold after a round of aggressive bidding.
Every member of the Sixverse Association had their own unique resources, which meant that these auctions depended on what resources the house would accept as payment. Typically, an auction would specify which universe’s resources would be accepted as payment, which would also signify which universe was behind that auction. If resources from all six universes were accepted, then it meant that whoever had arranged the auction had extraordinary means at their disposal.
Not everyone was able to freely enter and leave all six universes.
The current auction accepted resources from all six universes.
"Next up, a battle technique: Meteor Strike. This battle technique primarily…"
Luo Lao'er was impressed. "This battle technique is pretty good, isn’t it, Seventh Bro? Are you interested?"
"Do you have money?"
"No."
"But your father is Monarch Luo."
"He abandoned me. I'm nothing but a hostage."
Lu Yin continued staring at the auctioneer. The battle technique up for sale was indeed quite impressive. It was from the Cyclic Universe and had been created by an Demi-Immortal, which was equivalent to the Fifth Mainland’s Semi-Progenitor realm. A Semi-Progenitor’s battle technique would naturally be valuable, though it was useless to someone like Lu Yin.
"Next item up for auction: a Four-Handed Wood from the Arboreal Realm. People who cultivate the Arboreal Realm’s power will be able to obtain the four-handed innate gift within this."
Lu Yin leaned forward, his eyes glued to the odd-looking tree. Four-Handed Wood? This was a truly extraordinary treasure from the Arboreal Realm.
Anyone who cultivated the Arboreal Realm’s power was able to obtain innate gifts from the trees there, which was why everyone from that universe possessed an innate gift. It was not some exaggerated claim, but rather the truth.
Luo Lao'er looked repulsed. "Four hands? Disgusting! Who would want four hands?"
"Having four hands means that it would be possible to use the same palm battle technique twice at the same time, which is very tempting to many people," Lu Yin explained.
"Seventh Bro, do you want it?"
"Not interested."
Neither of them were interested, but many other people were. The item was sold in the blink of an eye.
The items continued to appear, and each one was quickly bought. Soon, five items had been sold, and each one was a unique treasure from a different universe.
"Our sixth item is quite special. I wonder if anyone will be interested in it," the auctioneer said. As he spoke, the void warped, and someone fell to the ground. It was a woman, and her appearance created quite a stir.
Luo Lao'er exclaimed in shock, "A subhuman?"
Lu Yin frowned. “Subhuman” was not a term used for a specific race, but rather the term used for the collective group of “losers.”
Civilizations waged war on each other throughout the vast megaverse, and these wars were not limited to individual universes; sometimes, they even spanned entire parallel universes. A perfect example was how the Cloudflow Universe had been defeated by the Transcendent Universe. Some of the Cloudflow Universe’s natives had been captured by the Transcendent Universe and forced into slavery. The term subhuman was basically a slightly more civilized term for a slave.
The crowd stared at the woman on display.
She did not look much different from an ordinary human, aside from being about twice as large. She was nearly the size of a lesser giant. As for her appearance, she was stunning. If not, she would have never been put up for auction.
However, the crowd was not focused on the woman herself, but instead on whoever had brought her to the auction.
They were in the Sixverse Academy, which was a universe where everyone who entered needed to be cleared before they could enter and learn from the different members of the Sixverse Association. People who entered individually needed to go through extremely stringent background checks. There was no way anyone unauthorized could sneak in. If such a thing were possible, how would they defend against Aeternus?
Despite this situation, someone had actually managed to bring a subhuman into the academy and was even openly selling her in an auction.
This simply defied imagination.
Even bringing the woman into the Sixverse Academy was a challenge enough, let alone getting her to the auction.
Luo Lao'er sucked in a sharp breath. "Whoever put her up for auction is definitely a big shot. They must have a treasure in their cosmic ring that can hold living creatures."
Cosmic rings were referred to by the same name in both the Fifth Mainland and the Sixverse Association.
In fact, ever since Lu Yin had first arrived in the Transcendent Universe, he had noticed many similarities between the Sixverse Association and the Fifth Mainland. Furthermore, many of these similarities stemmed specifically from the Main Universe.
The Fifth Mainland represented the Origin Universe, and all these coincidences meant that something must have happened between the Origin Universe and Main Universe. It also had to be related to the reason why the Perennial World had been excluded from the Sixverse Association despite its strength.
"Seventh Bro, you don't seem surprised," Luo Lao'er remarked.
Lu Yin replied, "This is beyond my understanding, so there’s no point in even thinking about it."
He himself had Zenith Mountain which could hold countless people and be placed in a cosmic ring, but it was the only such treasure in the entire Fifth Mainland. He had never heard of another treasure that was capable of both holding living creatures and being stored in a cosmic ring, so he actually was very curious about what kind of treasure had been used.
Luo Lao'er thought about it for a moment. "True, it's beyond anything that I know as well. I've heard of people storing living creatures in a cosmic ring, but not even my old man has a treasure like that. I'm really curious who could be behind this."
Just as the auctioneer was about to start the bidding for the subhuman, a loud voice cut in. "I don't know who brought this subhuman here, but are there any thoughts about selling the treasure that can store living beings? If you're willing, come find me, Jiang Xiaodao. I guarantee that you’ll be satisfied with my offer."
Someone else spoke up, "Jiang Xiaodao, you’re violating the rules of the secret auctions."
Jiang Xiaodao arrogantly replied, "So what if I do? Who's going to punish me?"
"How obnoxious," someone else said.
Lu Yin was curious, "Who is this Jiang Xiaodao?"
Luo Lao'er whispered, "He’s the son of Sage Jiang from the Cyclic Universe. Sage Jiang is unquestionably a pinnacle expert, as very few in the entire Sixverse Association can match his status. This guy does whatever he wants without any thought for the consequences. He considers himself above us common folk."
Lu Yin observed the distant Jiang Xiaodao. The man had left his room and even removed his mask. He appeared young, though his voice was practically dripping with condescension. Even so, no one could do anything to him.
"I’ll repeat myself: sell me that treasure, and I guarantee that I will offer a price that can satisfy you. You can ask about my reputation in the Cyclic Universe. When I say that I'll shake hands, I won't touch any legs. When I say that I'll kiss faces, I won't kiss mouths," Jiang Xiaodao declared.
The crowd was rendered speechless. Was that really something to brag about?
"Jiang Xiaodao shut up! Do you even have any shame at all?" a woman shouted from the other side.
Jiang Xiaodao arched a brow. "Mu Mu? Are you trying to cause trouble for me?"
"Stop embarrassing yourself!" the woman shot back.
Jiang Xiaodao sneered. "Who do you think you are, ordering me around?"
Then, it looked like he suddenly realized something, as his eyes went wide. "Are you trying to compete with me for that treasure? I'm warning you—don't steal what's mine, or else things won't end well for you!"
"So what? I've got a better reputation than you, so it would make more sense for the owner to sell it to me," the woman retorted.
Jiang Xiaodao lost his temper and yelled, "Nonsense! Not even one single man is trying to woo you! There’s clearly something wrong with you—maybe you have smelly feet!"
"Shut your mouth!" the woman thundered in anger. She rose to her feet and removed her own mask, revealing a breathtakingly beautiful face with delicate features.
As they listened to the two argue, Luo Lao'er felt envious. "If not for that bastard Luo Zang, I would be able to speak up right now too. Alas, all I have left are tears."
Despite all the squabbling, no one actually tried to make any moves.
After a while, the argument finally died down, after a bit of persuasion from a few others.
However, the subhuman had become the new focus of the two people’s competition. Both Jiang Xiaodao and Mu Mu started competing for the large woman being sold. Bids rose exponentially as the two tried to outdo the other.
The auctioneer was thrilled with this development, while the others attending the auction were dazzled by the wealth that the two were flaunting.
"Mu Mu, you're a woman, so why are you competing with me? There really must be something wrong with you. Do you like women?"
"Her future will be miserable if she falls into your hands. I’m going to take her away."
"Nonsense! I'm just trying to leave a good impression on the person who’s selling her. I’m paving the way for our future transactions."
"Are you sure that they’re even willing to sell it to you?"
"Who else would they sell it to?"
"Maybe she was brought in by someone important, and they might not have even used a cosmic ring," Mu Mu said.
Many others had already thought of this possibility as well.
Lu Yin had naturally also thought of such a possibility. Semi-Progenitors had their inner worlds, and Progenitors had Progenitor's worlds. Either one would make it possible to bring other people along.
"That's impossible. Only those old monsters don’t need treasures to bring someone into the academy, and how could any of them openly auction off a subhuman? They would be seeking death."
"Not necessarily. A white energy converter from the Transcendent Universe can accomplish the same thing."
"True. The Transcendent Universe occupies the Cloudflow Universe, so maybe this subhuman is from there. Also, I heard that someone flashy from the Transcendent Universe recently arrived."
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